In Reversal, Biden’s Education Dept. Excludes Many From Student Debt Relief

On Thursday, the department changed the language to: “As of Sept. 29, 2022, borrowers with federal student loans not held by ED cannot obtain one-time debt relief by consolidating those loans into Direct Loans.”

According to federal data, more than 4 million borrowers still have commercially-held FFEL loans.

It was not immediately clear what led to the decision.

“As recently as yesterday, the site said they were working on a solution for these borrowers,” Betsy Mayotte, president of the Institute of Student Loan Advisors, tweeted. “This is a gut punch, to say the least.”